Tomorrow's Gone
by sheisamelody
Summary: A heartbreaking event leaves one of the TR officers' career, and life, in limbo.
1. Chapter 1

**Tomorrow's Gone**

**A/N: **I wasn't going to post anymore Rush stories on here, but with season three fast approaching, I thought why not!

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**Chapter 1**

Misty rain fell down from the sky, and a crowd of anxious looking people were watching on, whispering questions to each other, unsure of what it is they should do. Tactical Response weren't exactly known for their 'rescues', but this time, they happened to be the first officers on the scene. A woman, trying desperately to get out of her unrecognisable car, was calling out for help.

"It's okay!" Lawson, who could not see her face properly, tried to assure her from a slight distance, "We'll get you out, don't worry."

Kerry's car pulled up behind one of the TR cars. She got out, despite the rain, and walked over to Lawson, "Leon said that the ambos are on their way, but for now we just have to do what we can to help."

He nodded, "I've got Josh, Shannon and Dom out in the other car, trying to get a hold of someone from the rescue squad, but they've had no luck so far. Apparently a lot of their resources are being put into finding those campers in Warrandyte, and they can't spare at least _one _bloody officer. Ridiculous."

"Yes, putting all their eggs in one basket, it does seem ridiculous," Kerry agreed, looking over at the crushed car. She noticed that it was slowly leaking something from underneath, and pointed at it, "That can't be good. We have to get her out quickly," she ran over to the car, "My name's Kerry, are you –"

The woman turned her head to face Kerry, and that's when she saw who it was for the first time. "_Shit!_ Sandrine!" Kerry cried out in horror, and looked back over her shoulder at Lawson, who ran towards them, "It's Sandrine!" she quickly asked her if she was hurt badly, to which Sandrine shook her head, but then said, "I can't feel one of my legs."

Kerry and Lawson shared a quick glance, and as Kerry grabbed a blanket for Sandrine, Lawson got onto the radio, "Leon, how far away is that ambulance? We need them here, _NOW_!"

"They're about fifteen minutes away from where you are, Lawson," he echoed back over the radio in reply, "I'm tracking them via the GPS fitted on their car."

"Jesus, isn't there _anyone_ else closer? We don't have a lot of time here," the tone of Lawson's voice was urgent, and somewhat frantic; he knew that Sandrine's life was at stake. "I need you to get Dom back here too, Leon. It might sound … better … if he hears that from you."

Sitting in front of the computer, Leon frowned, "Why, what's going on?"

"Just get Dom back here, and get the bloody ambulance to hurry the hell up!"

* * *

Kerry was trying to keep Sandrine as calm as possible while they were _still_ waiting for paramedics to arrive. Stella, Michael and Lawson in the meantime, kept the numerous onlookers at bay, whose numbers appeared to have doubled since TR had first arrived at the crash scene.

"Is it normal for this to be happening? That I can't feel my leg?" Sandrine asked Kerry in a mouse-like voice.

"It can happen in car accidents if your leg has become stuck like yours has," Kerry replied, trying to make her voice sound soothing and calm. She knew, just by looking at the state of Sandrine's leg, that is was not good. She was no doctor, but could tell that no matter what they did, and no matter how soon the paramedics got there, the chance of Sandrine surviving was very slim.

With Stella and Michael trying to keep the crowd under control as best they could, Lawson walked back over to the crushed car, "How's things?" Kerry looked up at him, discreetly trying to get him to look at Sandrine's leg. When he did, he asked if he could have a word with her.

"I'll be right back, Sandy," Kerry told the frightened woman in a soft voice, "Just stay as still as you can, and keep the blanket over you."

"That leg doesn't look right," Lawson commented when they were in a position so that Sandrine could not hear them. Kerry was shaking her head, about to reply, when TR2 pulled up with a screech of the brakes. A worried looking Dom got out of the driver's side quickly and asked, "What's going on? Leon said –" he paused, and his eyes looked past Kerry and Lawson as he recognised Sandrine's car despite the substantial damage to it, "Bloody hell, _Sandrine_!" before anyone could do anything, he took off towards the car.

Kerry sighed heavily, and she looked down at the ground so no one was able to see that her eyes were starting to fill up with tears.

"Where's the ambulance?" Dom shrieked out of panic, "Her leg! We have to get out her of here. She needs to get to hospital!"

Lawson made his way over to Dom, and put a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Just calm down, the last thing Sandrine needs right now is for her husband to be running around like a chicken with its head cut off," he told him, as the ambulance sirens wailed in the distance, gradually getting closer.

* * *

The two paramedics, along with Lawson and Josh, had to use sheer force to get Dom away from the car. He was a nervous and emotional wreck, and no one had really seen him quite like this before. Though, no one could blame him for the way he was feeling.

"That's my wife! That's my wife!" Dom was repeatedly crying out, trying to push past them with little success, "Sandrine?" he suddenly had an idea, "I'll go and get G!"

"_No_, Dom," Lawson said firmly, "You're in no condition to drive."

"Shannon and I can go and get G for him, Lawson. We'll be ten minutes, max," Josh volunteered when Dom seemed shell-shocked by Lawson's response, "Dom can stay here, with Sandrine."

Lawson thought about Josh's offer for a few seconds, "Okay, fine with me. Dom?"

He nodded, seemingly not having the energy to put in an argument as to why _he_ should be the one to go and get his daughter, "She's at our house, my mother is looking after her."

By the time Josh and Shannon came back with Dom and Sandrine's 18 month old daughter, G, Sandrine's strength was fading, and everyone could see it; including Dom. Her leg was crushed so much that if the pressure was released, the toxins that had been building up would quickly spread to the rest of her body, and she would die. Paramedics adamantly, but regrettably, told Kerry quietly that was not much more that they could do.

She nodded, knowing that that was the case, "Does he know?" she glanced over at Dom.

"He has a pretty good idea," one of the paramedics replied.

Kerry glanced up at the sky, and sighed, clenching her fist together out of frustration. There was no justice in the world. She and the others watched as Dom took baby G into his arms, and walked her over to see her mum. They sang songs to her, and G had a big smile on her face. She was too young to have any idea what was going on.

The light rain finally stopped, and a ray of sunshine tried to poke its way through the clouds. Kerry was carrying G, bouncing her up and down gently around in her arms, talking to her in a high pitched voice to keep her occupied. The sound of Dom's cries filled the air; he was holding onto Sandrine's lifeless body, desperately wanting her to wake up.

"I think we should leave," Stella whispered to Lawson, "Give him some space."

He couldn't come up with any reason why they shouldn't leave, and he nodded, but there was one thing bothering him, "I think Dom is going to need _someone _to be here for now, and Kerry is looking after G. So you guys can take the two cars, Josh and Stell in one car, and Michael and Shan in the other. And I'll stay with Kerry," Lawson began to feel like he was rambling, so he paused, "We'll see you … when we see you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Tomorrow's Gone**

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**Chapter 2**

It had been over 12 hours since the mayhem and sadness of Sandrine's death. Kerry was asleep in bed when her doorbell rang twice. Her eyes fluttered open a little at the sound, but she didn't think much more of it, and fell back to sleep. Half an hour later though, when the time read 4.30am on her bedside clock, she awoke to the sound of a child's cry. This time, she sat up in bed, wondering where the cries were coming from. She walked down the stairs of her townhouse, finding that the cries were getting louder as she got closer to the front of the house.

Kerry opened the door, and her eyes were immediately drawn to the ground, "Oh my God, sweetheart, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, seeing Dom's daughter G sitting in her pram with tears running down her soft pink cheeks. Next to her was a bag, which Kerry assumed was full of baby essentials. She pushed the pram inside, and shut the door, feeling bewildered. "Do you remember me? I'm Kerry," she looked down at the little girl, who was looking back up at her with big brown eyes.

Knowing that it was too early to call anybody, Kerry took G, and the pram, upstairs to her bedroom. She got her to sleep after a few minutes, and then tried herself, to get to sleep.

At least for the next hour or so.

Lawson was woken by the sound of his phone ringing on his bedside table. He quickly glanced at the time, 5:58am, and picked the phone up, noticing who the call was coming from, "Kerry, what's up?"

She began with a sigh, a little unsure of how to explain the situation to Lawson, "I'm not _quite_ sure. It's Dom … he dropped G off at my place earlier this morning. When I finally opened the door, he wasn't there."

He sat upright in his bed; he was awake now, "_What_? What do you mean by _earlier_?"

"At four o'clock I vaguely heard the doorbell ringing, but didn't think anything of it," Kerry explained. "But half an hour later, I heard crying, and went downstairs to the front and found G sitting in her pram, bawling her eyes out."

"Oh shit, poor little thing," came Lawson's reply. He paused for a few seconds, thinking about what they should do, "I'll be over in about 30 minutes, okay? We can talk about it more when I get to your house."

* * *

When Lawson arrived, G was wide awake, and Kerry was feeding her some banana custard from a small jar she found in the baby bag. "It's _nah nah_ custard," he heard Kerry saying as he entered her house. "Well, you certainly know what you're doing, don't you?" he commented, looking at Kerry, who had G sitting on her lap, "I can see why Dom brought her here."

Kerry shrugged her shoulders, reluctant to respond. She gently put G back in her pram, along with a toy bunny she managed to find amongst her son's old things. Curiosity got the better of him, and Lawson raised his eyebrows. "It's Billy," Kerry answered the question written on his face, "Billy the bunny rabbit."

He laughed, saying, "Cute," before his voice turned serious, "I'm going to ring Leon. Get him to call Dom's mobile and home phone numbers. I doubt there will be any answer but -"

"I've already tried to ring Dom's mobile, it's switched off," Kerry interrupted with a shake of the head, "But Leon can always call his home phone, for sure. Maybe we should get Stella to drop by Dom's house on the way to work, she lives near him."

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

Despite Kerry pushing G in her pram as they walked down the corridor at work, she and Lawson were met with a number of questioning glares. "What's going on?" Stella demanded to know, "Why on earth did I have to go over to Dom's house this morning? The guy has just lost his wife for God's sake. I think we should just give him some space."

Kerry nodded, she agreed with the last part, "Yes, but where ever he has gone, I don't think he should have left his daughter behind. She, of all people, _needs_ him right now. Even though she doesn't know what's going on."

"So what's _she_ doing with you then?" Stella's voice was raised, and Kerry held one of her fingers to her mouth, wanting Stella to keep it down, "G was left on my doorstep this morning. _Early_ this morning. I know Dom …" Kerry's voice softened even more, "I know Dom lost Sandrine. I _know_. I just think G needs to be with her dad at the moment, not me."

"He obviously _trusts_ you with her though, Kerry," Lawson said seriously, "Plus I saw you feeding G earlier, and like I said, you certainly knew what you were doing."

Leon, trying not to be too loud, exclaimed, "Ah good parenting skills, hey Kerry?"

"_Shut up_."

He shook his head, and said with a grin, "Don't you know a compliment when you hear one?"

"I know compliments, I just don't like hearing them."

When Leon laughed at her response, Kerry rolled her eyes and decided to change the subject, "Leon, can you get a call out to other patrols in Melbourne and the surrounds? Get them to keep a look out for Dom's car. Yes he's going through a tough time at the moment, and probably will be for a while, but he has to know that he can't just leave G here without saying a bloody word to anyone."

"Okay," Leon stopped laughing, and started typing on the keyboard, "Should I see if I can get in touch with Dom's parents? They might know where he is."

"Local patrols have already told them the news, but I might see if Josh, Shannon and Michael can go around there and talk to them this time," Kerry replied as she stooped down to G's eye level and started to play with Billy the bunny to keep the young girl distracted from what was going on.

Lawson nodded, agreeing with her sentiment, "Yep, besides trying to contact him by phone, and get patrols to keep a look out for his car, I think that's the only thing we can do at the moment. Stell and I can stay here and annoy Leon until anything _police work_ related comes up."


	3. Chapter 3

**Tomorrow's Gone**

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**Chapter 3**

A few weeks went by, and still, no one had heard anything from Dom. Not even a lousy text message. Kerry was still looking after G, taking her into work with her every day. Dom's parents said they did not want the responsibility of looking after their own grandchild.

Kerry struggled to understand their way of thinking. _"Do you think that I want the responsibility?" _she had asked them, to which they barely responded.

She enjoyed looking after G, but not hearing from Dom was making her anxious. Was he expecting her to look after his daughter forever? Or … The thoughts inside Kerry's head stopped, and she sighed. She was tired, angry, and most of all, upset. These emotions having an effect on G, who seemed to be able to sense that something was wrong.

"Kewee, where dada?" she asked, playing with Billy the bunny.

Kerry down looked at the little girl sitting in front of her, smiling the smallest of smiles, "He'll be back soon, sweetheart," she told her softly, "He just needed to go away for a while, that's all."

G looked down at the toy bunny in her lap, and back up at Kerry. She picked it up, and held it out towards Kerry, "Keep?"

"Yes you can keep him. I don't think the original owner would want him anymore."

* * *

Out on the road, the tension between everyone was becoming very noticeable. They were all anxious; it was upsetting knowing that Dom had lost Sandrine, and now, he was no where to be found. "I miss his goofy grin," said Stella, who was looking out the window blankly.

In the driver's seat Lawson quickly glanced over at her, before looking back out the front window, "We all miss him Stell. But he'll be back here soon. I am sure he will," his words were assuring to Stella, but as assuring as it may have sounded, Lawson wondered who on earth he was trying to kid. In his heart, he thought that the possibility of Dom returning to work was growing smaller and smaller with each day that went by.

Lawson also knew that they were stretching their resources to the limit by only have five of them out on patrol in the one shift. It was something that he and Kerry were going to have to talk about, and soon. When he got the opportunity, he rang her discreetly, and explained his thoughts.

Kerry agreed that it was about time they all got together to have a team meeting. It was a sensitive issue, but even if they got someone to replace Dom _temporarily_, they knew that as a squad, they would be better off.

They all walked into the room a little wearily, taking their seats with heavy, long-winded sighs. Kerry and Lawson were already seated in front of them. "Kerry and I have been talking, and we think that maybe … _maybe _we should look at getting a replacement for Dom. It would be temporary of course," Lawson began after about two minutes of silence. He then added, "But, we need to know what you all think about that."

"I don't think it would be right to replace Dom," Stella was always the kind of person who voiced her opinion, no matter what.

"It would only be _temporary_," Lawson repeated, his patience with Stella was growing thin. Ever since the shooting incident, she had become erratic, and somewhat aggressive towards everyone who crossed her path, _including_ colleagues. The police psychologist said that it would be normal for her to be like that, especially after something traumatic, but Lawson thought six and a half months was starting to get a bit _too_ long. Even a stint with a general duties unit had not helped.

"Yeah, but –" she began, but stopped short as Michael interrupted her, "I think it's a good idea. We need that extra person in one of the cars. I know we've gone three in one car, and two in the other before, but we don't know how long Dom is going to be gone for. And, we don't know what he'll be like when he gets back."

Kerry and Lawson looked over at each other quickly, and nodded agreeingly. Michael was really starting to develop a much more mature attitude, not only as a person, but as a police officer. "That's what we have been thinking too, Michael," Lawson told him. He paused, glancing over at Stella, who looked like she was getting ready to say something. "Stell, Dom can come back as soon as he's is ready. _If_ he is ready. We can't work to our full capacity if we keep doing this."

"Kerry can come out with us. I know she does sometimes already, but …" Stella pleaded a little, though she knew she probably wasn't going to get anywhere.

Just as Lawson was about to reply, Leon walked in sheepishly, clearing his throat, "Sorry guys. Kerry, G wants you." When Kerry left the room, Lawson said, "_That_ is why I don't think Kerry should come out with us all of the time. Dom put G in _Kerry's_ care, albeit unexpectedly. And not only that, she's no doubt exhausted from looking after her all the time, and working full time too. I don't think it would be fair on her _or_ G if she's constantly out on patrol."

* * *

The process for searching for someone of Dom's rank and experience was a bit of a slog. Becoming fed up with the lack of ideal candidates, Kerry and Lawson wondered whether they should be looking for someone with less experience, so not to _replace_ Dom as such.

Constable Christian Tapu was a stand out from the younger officers, and they brought him back for a second interview, before asking everyone else what they thought about bringing in another constable temporarily.

"Does that mean one, or both, of us will get promoted?" Michael asked, looking across at Stella with a big grin on his face.

Kerry couldn't help but smile a little at his enthusiastic question. "Neither of you have been a constable long enough to be able to get promoted, if I am correct in saying. But either way, what ever happens with the ranks, you will both have more experience than this officer, and Lawson and I will expect that you help him to _gain_ the experience he needs to be a part of this squad."


	4. Chapter 4

**Tomorrow's Gone**

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**Chapter 4**

As Kerry and Lawson had suspected, everyone except Stella was happy when the new recruit, Christian, arrived on his first day. He knew that it wasn't likely to be a permanent position, but was happy to be there all the same. Stella was grumpy; that was, until she saw what Christian actually looked like. He was gorgeous (in her eyes), and she suddenly wanted to suck up to him as best she knew how. But then, she saw the glisten of a ring on his left hand.

"_Jesus Christ_, he's married!" she exclaimed in a whisper to Shannon and Michael, who were both in the change room with her. Shannon merely shrugged, but didn't say anything; it wasn't going to bother her either way. Michael shrugged also, "So what?" he questioned with a meaningful frown on his face.

"Ah forget it."

When Kerry walked into the room, pushing G in the pram, she asked if they had all introduced themselves to Christian. The three of them nodded, to which Kerry replied with a short and simple, "Good," before walking back out again.

"I like him," Shannon commented, buttoning up her work shirt over a singlet she had underneath, "I think he'll be good."

* * *

In the operations room, Lawson was having a heated argument with Jacinta over the phone. He was trying to keep his voice down, as he knew that there was a very good chance Leon was listening, but he couldn't help it. She was pissing him off, more than usual. "We're _not_ together anymore, Jacinta," he said firmly, but through clenched teeth, "Why can't you bloody understand that?" with those last words, he pressed the 'end' button on his phone, and groaned.

"Women, hey mate?" Leon grinned, but snapped his mouth shut when Lawson was looking at him through disapproving brown eyes. Sheepishly, he then added, "Sorry, forget I said, or heard, anything."

Lawson sighed as the sound of G's voice entered the room. He turned around and smiled at the little girl, whose eyes were wide and alert to everything around her. "Christian is going to be in the car with Josh and Shannon today," Kerry told him; her bleary eyes, on the other hand, looking as if she could do with some more sleep.

Lawson nodded, and walked up next to her, placing a light hand on her shoulder, "You look like you need to go back to bed. Get Leon to watch G for an hour or so, and go lie down."

"Yeah," she replied with a nod, but wasn't really the kind of person who tried to get to sleep during the day. When Lawson left to out on patrol with Stella and Michael, Leon swivelled around on his chair, and asked, "So what do we tell Dom if he comes in … all of a sudden?"

Kerry shrugged, and answered tiredly, "I don't know, tell him tomorrow's gone or something, because we needed him _today_."

* * *

The following day, Leon walked in to work to find his computer already switched on, and what looked like hundreds of pop ups on the screen. He frowned, and sat down on his chair, clicking on a couple of them with the mouse.

'_Sergeant Dominic Wales' car was found in Werribee this morning_,' read one of the pop ups.

'_No sign of Dominic yet though_,' read another one, and there were many more like it.

Leon glanced at the time of each of them, and then looked down at his watch. It was just after 7am, and the pop up alerts were written less than half an hour earlier. He went to pick up the phone, hesitating though, as he wondered if he should ring Kerry or Lawson. Thinking that Kerry was probably still asleep, and would want to sleep longer, he decided to call Lawson.

The phone call was a quick one; Lawson was already awake, and just about ready for work. When he got there, Leon told him more about the situation, though the patrols had not yet found Dom. "Well, it's a start at least," Lawson said with some optimism, glaring at the computer screen with his arms folded across his chest, "I just hope everything's okay. Have you called Kerry?"

He shook his head, "I thought I'd let her sleep in."

Lawson smiled at Leon's kind gesture, even though he doubted that Kerry would be able to sleep in with G staying with her.

* * *

Upbeat by the news that Dom's car had been found, everyone went out on patrol feeling good. Sitting in the back of the car, Stella murmured, mostly to herself, "So, I guess that means Christian won't be staying much longer."

Josh glared at her through the rear view mirror, "I hope you're not saying that out of spite."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because _you_ were the one who didn't want him here. Remember?" he answered, rolling his eyes as he wondered why he had to explain that to her.

As Stella was about to snap a reply, Leon's dejected voice came through the radio, "Ahh guys … I have some bad news."

In the other car, Lawson felt his heart sink at the sound of Leon's voice; was this going to be about Dom? He hoped like hell that it wasn't, but his hopes were about to fade. Fast.

After telling them that they may want to pull the cars over to the side of the road, Leon relayed through the information he had just been told.

The drive along the freeway which led to Werribee was what felt like the longest in all of their careers. They all sat in a hopeless silence; none of them were able to put a coherent sentence together. At base, Kerry was holding onto G. What on earth was she going to say to the little girl? She had been in that horrible situation before with her son, whose dad passed away when he was two.

Crime scene photographers had arrived, and because of that, Dom's body was still where it was when he died – hanging from a tree. It was a disturbing, and sorrowful sight, the worst any of them had seen. Through the lapel cameras the images were transmitted onto Leon's computer, and in turn, onto the screens. Kerry turned her back towards them, taking G with her. She put her in the pram and wheeled it away so she would not be able to see anything.

Christian was floored. Even though he was siting in the car, he didn't have to be Einstein to know what was going on. The thought of being there at Tactical Response when the person he was filling in for had just died, started to play on his mind. Was there any way he could be accepted now?

**The End**


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